After a couple months of searching, Mel found us an orange tabby kitten to adopt. She e-mailed the adoption agency at 11 p.m. last night and got a reply back letting us know that he'd be available at a local pet store in the morning. So far, Pippen has been very interactive with the kids. I hope he stays that way – Oliver and Kitty were very aloof around them.

We recently took a weekend road trip to Southeastern Iowa to see Ben's Mom. She helps maintain a farm run by her brother and his wife (Ben's Aunt and Uncle). We visited during the peak of lambing season (see slideshow for pics). The hillsides were littered with hundreds of ewes and baby lambs — some lambs were only hours old!

On our return, we detoured through Chicago to visit Mel's sister's family for a short visit. We left Chicago at sunset and had a great view of the skyline as we drove back home. For an hour, we tried to make Greta understand how tall the Sears Tower was. It can be hard explaining abstract concepts to kids.